Protecting my Protector
by IndusLotus2001
Summary: After being promoted to captain, Hinamori and Hitsugaya are dispatched to the World of the Living for a serious mission. When Hitsugaya faces imminent death, Hinamori puts her life on the kine to protect him. Will she die before he knows how she feels?


**A/N: Yay, new story! I started this a little sooner than I had hoped, but slacked at the end. So for those of you who read my other HitsuHina story, you know what this is about. For those of you who haven't, I'd really appreciate if you read and review my other HitsuHina story. It's called To Forgive and Never Forget. So this is a HitsuHina one-shot and it takes place two years after Ichigo loses his powers. We're gonna pretend the fullbringers and Xcution never came into the picture. Hope you guys like it!**

_Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, I'd make a big Bleach crossover movie with Dragon Ball Z Kai cuz even though I don't watch that show anymore, my brother does, and I see just how similar the shows are, so I think it'd be a cool idea. Anyone who wants to should comment on this idea!_

"Oooh, Taicho, this is so exciting, isn't it?" Rangiku Matsumoto asked her Taicho as she and Toushiro Hitsugaya headed to Yamamoto Taicho's quarters for a Taicho/Fukataicho meeting to celebrate Hinamori fukataicho's promotion to Captain of the fifth squad (she recently achieved bankai-she'd been training for several hours every day with Renji to get to this point).

"Sure, yeah," Toushiro said.

Rangiku frowned. "You don't sound too excited Taicho."

"I think you know my true feelings Rangiku, so stop bugging me," Toushiro replied.

Rangiku fell silent. She knew. Toushiro was very protective of Momo. He was worried for her safety, because as a Captain, she'd be put in even more danger than she was as a Vice-Captain.

Matsumtoto and Hitsugaya were the third group to arrive, after Kuchki Taicho and Abarai Fukataicho, and Kira Taicho, who'd also trained with Renji along with Momo to achieve bankai. He'd started training first, and was already stronger than Momo to begin with, so he achieved bankai and became Captain first. His fukataicho was a strong girl by the name of Nanahara Noriko.

"Hey Kira, hey Renji," Matsumoto greeted.

"Hey Rangiku, what's up?" Renji asked.

"I was just thinking, maybe I should train with you too Renji, and become a captain myself," Rangiku joked.

"Captain of what squad?" Hisagi Shuhei asked as he came in.

"What about yours Hisagi?" Rangiku replied.

"Sqaud Nine's name would be tarnished," Hisagi replied.

"Not that you could beat him anyway," Renji added. Hisagi also achieved bankai and became Taicho of his squad, long before Kira and Momo. He didn't train with Renji. He did it all on his own. His fukataicho was Kawada Izuna, a girl who reminded him a lot of himself when he was Tosen's fukataicho.

"Though for you, he might roll over and let you take over," Kira muttered.

Hisagi blushed violently.

"Huh? What do you mean Kira?" Rangiku asked, clueless.

"N-nothing. The guy doesn't know what he's talking about," Hisagi said.

Izuna laughed at her captain's discomfort. Everyone, besides Rangiku herself, knew Hisagi was in love with her.

"Doesn't he? I think Kira Taicho knows a lot," said a new voice. Everyone looked up to see Kuchki fukataicho entering with Ukitake Taicho. Rukia wore her trademark smirk. Renji began to laugh along with Izuna and Rukia. In the recent times, Rukia grew very close to Kira and Momo. They were Renji's best friends after all, and since she and Renji were best friends too, she spent a lot of time with the other two.

Hisagi was so red, Kira was afraid he'd explode and felt kind of bad for making the comment in the first place.

"Would you guys stop?" Hisagi hissed.

"Now, now. There's no need to hide true feelings," came the voice of Kyoraku Taicho as he entered with his lieutenant, the no nonsense Ise Nanao. She adjusted her glasses and said nothing. Both knew about Hisagi's crush of course, but Nanao was not one to say those kinds of things aloud. "For example, my cute little Nanao doesn't hold anything back."

"That's because you call me your cute little Nanao," she growled in reply as she whacked him on the head.

"Ow!" he complained. He looked at Hisagi. "See what I mean?"

"What is everyone talking about? And Hisagi, why are you so red?" Rangiku asked.

"My, my, it looks like we embarrassed the boy," Ukitake Taicho grinned.

"Do you have a fever?" Rangiku continued. "Taicho, you could cool things down, can't you?"

"It wouldn't help," Toushiro replied.

"Why not?" Rangiku asked.

Now everyone, except Hitsugaya Taicho and Kuchki Taicho laughed. Even Nanao and Noriko, who were very serious, couldn't resist laughing. Rangiku was laughing too. She had no idea what everyone else found so funny, but laughter was contagious.

"What's so funny?"Unohana Taicho asked as she and Isane came in.

"Nothing Captain!" Hisagi cried, not wanting to let anyone else know.

"What's so funny?" Unohana asked again, in _that _voice, giving everyone in the room _that _look.

Nanao began to explain when everyone else filed in at once.

"Haha, look Ken-chan! He's all red!" Yachiru said, pointing to Hisagi. Zaraki Taicho grunted in response as Yamamoto Taicho made his presence known. Hisagi's face returned to normal color as everyone lined up.

Yamamoto Taicho banged his staff on the ground, though everyone was already quiet. His vice-captain stood at his side. "It is my pleasure to introduce to you Hinamori Momo fukataicho, who is promoted to Captain of the fifth squad," Yamamoto said as Hinamori came in. "She has trained hard and achieved bankai. Hinamori fukataicho, do you accept this title?"

"Yes Yamamoto Taicho," Hinamori said.

"Very well then. I expect you to maintain the honor of the Gotei 13 and fulfill your duties as captain to the best of your ability," Yamamoto said. Then, he added so quietly so that only Momo could hear, "I have faith in you." Momo blushed and softly thanked him. Then addressing everyone again, Yamamoto said, "Presenting Hinamori Momo Taicho!"

Renji and Rangiku, being the obnoxious people they were started clapping and cheering. Their captains tried to stop them but not even a look from Byakuya could stop Renji. Momo started blushing again and Kira and Hisagi gave her sympathetic looks.

After Renji and Rangiku calmed down, Hinamori went straight to Hitsugaya who had refused to meet her eyes until now.

"What do you think Shiro-chan? I'm a captain now!" Hinamori exclaimed happily.

"It's Hitsugaya Taicho," Toushiro scowled. Then his expression softened. "Congratulations Hinamori."

"It's Hinamori Taicho now," Momo teased. Toushiro looked surprised and Renji and Rangiku burst out laughing.

Momo giggled softly and stepped into line next to former third seat of the fifth squad, Honda Ginjo fukataicho of Squad 5.

Yamamoto banged his staff. "Unfortunately, this is not the only business we have. We have received reports from Shihoin Youruichi of a dangerous Hollow attack in the world of the living. Kurosaki's team has't been able to take them down and we need to dispatch some members of the Gotei 13 to the World of the Living to take care of them."

Immediately, Rukia stepped forward, as did Renji. "We'll go," they said unison, even though Yamamoto wasn't asking for volunteers.

"No," he said. "You two are still too attached to Kurosaki and since he has lost his powers, he won't be able to see you unless in a gigai. I'm afraid of what lengths you'll go to in order to reunite with him."

Rukia and Renji opened their mouths to protest.

"Rukia, Renji," Byakuya said sharply, warning them to silence themselves.

"Yes Nii-sama," Rukia said.

"Sorry Taicho," Renji said. They both stepped back in line.

"I will go," Soi Fon volunteered, looking for an excuse to see Youruichi.

"No," Yamamoto rejected again. "We need you here. Your squad is needed during times of crisis and your squad always falls apart when you aren't here."

Almost immediately, Madarame Ikkaku entered the room.

"What are you doing here Baldy?" Yachiru asked.

"Don't call me bald," Madarame growled. He looked at Yamamoto. "Yamamoto Taicho, I was just passing by and happened to overhear."

"Sure," Renji said sarcastically and Rukia and Rangiku smirked.

Ignoring them, Ikkaku went on, "I think Yumichika and I should handle it."

Surprisingly, Yamamoto didn't seem angry that he interrupted. "Yes, okay. Zaraki Taicho, I'm dispatching your third and fifth seats. Any objection to that?"

"None," Kenpachi answered.

"I'd also like to send along a few captains. This is serious," Yamamoto said. Ikkaku's eyes sparkled in excitement.

"Unohana Taicho, Zaraki Taicho, you will go along. Your vice-captains are to accompany you. Hinamori Taicho, I'd like you to go along to get a taste of captain missions. I expect you to help whenever you are needed."

"Of course Yamamoto Taicho," Momo agreed.

"I'd like your fukataicho to remain here and take over lead of the fifth squad," Yamamoto said. "And I need one more captain." His eyes landed on Kuchki Taicho, but before he could say anything, Hitsugaya stepped forward.

"I'll go," he said. "I think it makes sense since I am the only captain to have experience in the World of the Living."

Yamamoto nodded. "That is true. You have the most experience a captain has. Very well, Hitsugaya Taicho. You will also be dispatched. Much like Honda fukataicho, I'd like Matsumoto fukataicho to stay and take over lead of the tenth squad. And while the captains and vice captains of the fourth and eleventh squad are gone, I'd like all the members to follow the lead of other fukataichos. Unohana Taicho, please tell your squad to bring all problems to Kuchki Rukia."

Rukia looked surprised, but pleased. She wasn't much of a healer, but she figured that she was chosen because, besides Hinamori Taicho, she was the best at kidou in the Gotei 13, even better than all members of the fourth squad besides Unohana Taicho and Isane.

"As for you Zaraki Taicho, please tell your squad to follow the lead of Abarai fukataicho."

Renji's eyes lit up. He figured the eleventh squad was left to him because until four years ago, he was the eleventh squad's sixth seat, and very powerful. Normally, the fourth seat would take over, but the squad currently didn't have one (the fourth seat was dead, and though he was powerful enough, Yumichika refused to become fourth seat because it was an uglier number than 5).

"That is all. You'll all be dispatched tonight," Yamamoto Taicho concluded, banging his staff again. Everyone began to leave.

"Aww, this is so unfair!" Rangiku complained. "I want to go to the World of the Living and help."

"Whenever you go to the World of the Living, all you do is shop," Hitsugaya said.

"Well, that's an added bonus," Rangiku said.

Renji, Kira, Rukia, Hisagi, and Momo laughed.

"Momo, will you please go shopping and buy me some cute outfits? I'll pay you back," Rangiku begged her best friend.

Momo nodded. "Sure Rangiku san. I'll be sure to do that."

Hitsugaya groaned. "I should've never volunteered for this mission."

"Why did you anyway Shiro-chan?" Momo asked.

"I have no idea," Hitsugaya lied. Kira, Hisagi, Rangiku, Renji, and Rukia exchanged looks. Hitsugaya wanted to go to protect Hinamori, obviously.

"Momo, want to come over and celebrate?" Rangiku asked. "I have sake at my house."

"Rangiku-san, you know I don't like sake."

"That's alright. The boys and I will drink the sake and you and Rukia can stay away."

"No," Hitsugaya Taicho said. "You can't do that Matsumoto. You have paperwork."

"Taicho," Rangiku begged.

"I do too Rangiku-san," Momo said quickly, before Toushiro could explode. "So I can't anyway."

Rukia, Renji, Kira, and Hisagi all agreed, even though none of them had paperwork. Momo didn't either, even though she was captain now. It was unusual, but none of them had work. They just didn't want to see Toushiro explode.

"Aww," Rangiku pouted, but followed her captain back to the tenth squad's barracks.

"See you tonight Shiro-chan!" Momo called as she and others went back to their respective squad's barracks too.

Hitsugaya sighed. He wished with his entire being that Momo didn't have to go on this mission. It wasn't safe. He was just glad Yamamoto agreed to send him so he could protect her.

BLEACH BLEACH BLEACH

"Ishida-kun!" was heard as Ishida Uryu fell from the roof he was standing on. Uryu regained his balance, landed safely on the ground and continued shooting arrows, killing three more Menos.

"I'm fine Inoue-san. Take care of yourself," Uryu yelled.

Orihime wasn't satisfied, but heard a noise behind her and found herself face to face with a Menos.

The Menos fired a cero at her. "Shiten Koushun!" she yelled. She had practiced even more recently and her shiten koushun had become extremely powerful. It diffused the cero and sent it back to the Menos, destroying it.

Orihime turned the other way to see how Chad was doing.

"El Directo!" he yelled at a Menos, destroying it.

"Sado-kun! Shiten Koushun!" Orihime yelled as a Menos fired a cero at Chad from the side. Chad turned to see Orihime destroying the Menos. She breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to her and gave her a thumbs up as a thank you.

"Damn," Uryu whispered to himself as he continued firing arrows. He was getting tried. This was difficult. He had no idea how, but all of Karakura Town was filled with Menos Grande, and as many as he, Orihime, and Chad defeated, there were still so many more.

"Santen Kesshun!" he heard Orihime yell. Shiten Koushun tired her out, and now she was facing just a regular Hollow. No need to use her most powerful attack and tire herself out when it wasn't needed. She used her shield to block the Hollow's attack. "Koten Zanshun!" Orihime yelled, still holding up the shield. Tsubaki took the Hollow out.

'Wow. Inoue-san has gotten really strong," Uryu thought as he dodged a cero.

"Koten Zanshun!" Orihime yelled again, taking out five Hollows in a row.

"El Directo!" Chad yelled, taking out a few of his own.

Uryu was too busy looking at Orihime and Chad to realize the Menos were surrounding him. There was no escape now. Uryu lifted his bow (**A/N: his glowing web thing whose name I forget :D**) but he knew it was useless. It was just a half heated attempt to protect himself. To go down fighting.

'Sado…Inoue-san…I'm sorry I couldn't protect you,' Uryu thought.

The six Menos surrounding him all opened their mouths and started to form their ceros. Uryu growled and put a fierce look on his face, getting ready to fire, hoping to take out at least one Menos.

"Snap Tobiume!" he heard a female voice yell fiercely. In the next instant, two Menos were taken out by one large fireball.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" Uryu heard. Two more were frozen and taken out.

"Grow, Hozukimaru!"

"Bloom, Fuji Kujaku!"

The other two Menos were out and Uryu saw his saviors. Hinamori fukataicho of the fifth division, Hitsugaya Taicho of the tenth division, and 3rd Seat Madarame and 5th Seat Ayasegawa of the eleventh divison. He saw Zaraki Taicho and Kusajishi fukataicho of the eleventh division and Unohana Taicho and Kotetsu fukataicho of the fourth division hanging back.

"Are you alright Ishida-kun?" Hinamori asked.

"Ishida-kun!" Uryu saw Orihime running over to him. She then noticed the Soul Reapers. "Ah! Hinamori fukataicho, Hitsugaya Taicho, hello. What're you guys doing here?"

"We came to help out. Yamamoto Taicho said the situation was serious," Hinamori replied, looking at Uryu expectantly.

"Oh, uh, I'm alright," Uryu assured her.

Suddenly, he heard Zaraki's crazy laugh and saw the captain going over to help Chad.

"Watch out Madarame san!" Orihime cried. "Shiten Koshun!" She destroyed a Menos by sending its cero back.

"Wow Inoue-san, you've gotten really strong," Hinamori noted. She didn't know Orihime too well, but did meet her a couple of times.

"Thanks," Orihime said. Then, noticing a weak Hollow she yelled, "Koten Zanshun!"

"I think we should get serious now Shiro-chan," Momo said to Toushiro. She turned to the eleventh squad members. "You guys too?" she questioned in whispers.

"Are you crazy? We can't! Our captain and lieutenant are here watching," Yumichika refused.

"We?" Ikkaku asked, confused. "Yumichika, do you have a bankai too?"

Yumichika immediately blushed. He forgot not even Ikkaku knew about Fuji Kujaku's true shikai form. The only reason Hinamori knew was because she walked into the eleventh squad training room looking for Yachiru, not knowing it was Yumichika's private training time, and saw him using Ruri'iro Kujaku.

"No, of course not. I meant you of course," Yumichika said quickly.

Ikkaku gave him a suspicious look.

"Shiten Koshun!" Orihime cried, destroying a Menos and protecting Ikkaku again. Ikkaku decided he could interrogate Yumichika later. Right now, he needed to stop being protecting by a girl.

"I guess we can't expect too much from them," Hinamori sighed as they went off to another part of Karakura to fight.

Hitsugaya nodded and released his bankai.

"Bankai! Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"

"Bankai!" Hinamori yelled. "Daisuke Tobiume!" **(A/N: Of course I made this up. Daisuke loosely translated means 'big help')**.

"Ban…bankai? Since when?" Uryu asked.

"Since last month. I'm the fifth squad captain as of today," Hinamori said. She and Toushiro went off to a different part of Karakura as well. Unohana Taicho and her fukataicho has also left to a fourth part. Yachiru was just watching. Figuring Zaraki Taicho and Chad has this area covered, Uryu and Orihime headed off to a fifth area.

"That's really amazing about Hinamori fukataicho, huh? Oh, I mean Hinamori Taicho," Orihime said.

Uryu nodded. "But I hope Hitsugaya Taicho can keep a clear head and fight."

"You mean because of his crush?" Orihime asked, who could pick up on Toshrio's feelings since the few times she met Hinamori were all times when Toushiro was around.

Uryu nodded. "We all know how he feels about her. I mean, it goes way past a crush. If he worries about her while she's fighting, especially since, judging by the look on his face, this is her first time using bankai in a real fight, he's going to end up getting hurt and that's not going to help him or us."

Orihime nodded. "Hitsugaya Taicho is a captain. I'm sure he can do it. And Hinamori Taicho is stronger now. If he needs it, she'll offer him _her_ protection."

Uryu nodded. "You're right Orihime. But still I-"

"Shiten Koushun! Orihime yelled suddenly, protecting Uryu from a cero. Orihime was on fire tonight, protecting anyone. He decided it was time he concentrated and started protecting her too.

BLEACH BLEACH BLEACH

"Hado 73, Soren Sokatsui!" Momo yelled, firing kido at a Menos. "Hado 33, Sokatsui! Hado 31, Shakkaho! Hado 4, Byakurai!"

Toushiro was impressed. He knew Momo was a master of kidou, but just with four kidou spells without the incantations, she took out nine regular hollows and two Menos.

"Hado 33, Sokatsui! Hado 4, Byakurai!" Toushiro yelled. He didn't practice kidou much, but it always worked out for him when he tried it.

Momo then started with the incantation for Shokkaho. Toushiro realized what she was doing. Daisuke Tobiume had a special ability. If Momo used the incantation for any kidou, she could put its power into her zanpaktou. Then, anytime she let out a fireball from the sword, which was triple the size and power of the fireballs that she could use in shikai form, she would also be able to fire the kidou she wanted if she chose for six fireballs per kidou.

Momo chanted the incantation for byakurai and sukatsui, as well as soren sukatsui, and a few bakudos as Toushiro fought of the Hollows.

"Momo, watch out!" Toushiro yelled as five regular Hollows came for her. Momo turned to them and shot out a fireball. "Hado 33, Sokatsui!" she yelled. The fireball destroyed two hollows and the sokatsui proceeded to destroy the other three.

Toushiro was more impressed. Her kidou techniques sure came in handy. He immediately thought of how jealous Kuchiki Fukataicho would be when she saw was Daisuke Tobiume could do.

For a while the fight went on. Toushiro and Momo noticed there was a severe drop in the number of Hollows, not just on their end, but in all the sections of Karakura Town. All together, Ishida, Inoue, Chad, and the Soul Reapers had taken out at least one third of the Menos and double the number of regular Hollows.

"Shiro-chan! This will be a whole lot easier if we can lead them all into one place. Remember the place we met and saved Ishida-kun? Let's lead all the Hollows to that one place. Then, if we combine out attacks, we can defeat them in one huge blow."

Toushiro nodded. That was a good idea. He could see why Yamamoto was so eager to promote her to captain.

Momo, using bakudo managed to rally the Menos to where Zaraki Taicho and Chad were still fighting hard. Meanwhile, Toushiro destroyed the regular Hollows.

"Madarame! We're luring them all to where Zaraki Taicho is!" Hitsugaya called when they passed by Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"Ishida kun, Inoue san!" Momo called. "Follow us and lure the Hollows with you!"

"Unohana Taicho. We're gathering the Menos," Yumichika said as the group passed by them.

"More fresh meat? Thanks," Kenpachi grinned happily as the entire group lured their Hollows to the one place.

"Yay, yay!" Yachiru cried excitedly, bouncing up and down as she watched. "Ken-chan is gonna have lots of fun now. Go Kenny!"

While Uryu and the captains and one lieutenant (Isane) focused on the Menos, Chad, Orihime, Ikkaku, and Yumichika took out the remaining regular Hollows.

Everyone was getting tired.

"We're getting close. They're almost gone," Orihime breathed.

"That's right. We can do this," Momo panted.

"Momo, are you okay? Maybe you should rest," Toushiro said.

Orihime and Uryu exchanged a look at that. No one else noticed.

"Don't be silly Shiro-chan! Hado 4, Byakurai!" Momo destroyed the last regular Hollow. "I can't just rest. We're almost done."

Toushiro nodded worriedly and tried to concentrate on the Hollows. Every now and then, Momo needed to stop to give Daisuke Tobiume some more kido power, so that left Toushiro fighting more Menos. He was more out of breath and tried than Momo was.

"We're almost done with this," Isane said, breathing heavily. She smiled. At that moment, a Menos lauched a cero at her. At the same time, another launched one at Yachiru.

"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime cried, only noticing, and protecting, Yachiru.

"Isane!" Unohana cried.

Isane managed to dodge enough so she didn't get the full impact of the cero, but she was down for the count. Orihime immediately stopped fighting to heal her.

Unohana, satisfied that her vice captain was in capable hands, continued fighting. Soon, most of the Menos were destroyed, but many got hurt. Orihime was working on healing Chad and Uryu. Unohana and Isane, who had been healed, were healing Ikkaku and Yumichika. Zaraki Taicho was still fighting, and so were Momo and Hitsugaya.

Zaraki Taicho had just defeated the second to last Menos. Hitsugaya finished off the last one.

"Is that it?" Zaraki asked.

"I think so," Hitsugaya replied as Hinamori just finished loading kido into her bankai.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, Zaraki Taicho!" Unohana cried worriedly.

They turned to see a dangerous Hollow approaching them, one that was between the stages of a Menos and an Arrancar (A/N: I don't remember what it's called, so I'll just call it a Hollow for now).

Zaraki got hit.

"Kenny!" Yachiru cried. Orihime, who'd finished healing Chad, caught Kenpachi and started to heal him while still working on Uryu.

The Hollow turned on Hitsugaya who was obviously too tired to dodge anything. It lauched a cero at him.

"SHIRO-CHAN!" Momo screamed. She rushed over, put herself in front of him, and used her bankai, which had a shield on one side, to block the cero.

"Hinamori!" Toushiro cried. "What're you doing."

"What you do best," Momo replied. "You always protect me Shiro chan. Now it's my turn to protect you."

"Momo," Hitsugaya whispered.

Momo, still blocking the cero, thought back to a promise she made that she didn't exactly keep.

Flashback:

_"Okay, that's it!" Renji cried. "I can't take it anymore!"_

_ "What's wrong Renji?" Momo asked, curiously. She, Izuru, and Renji were fourth years in the Soul Reaper Academy and were heading over to their favorite tree to eat lunch as they did every day, just the three of them. _

_ "You," Renji replied. "Why are you so interested in that white haired kid?"_

_ "Huh? You mean Hitsugaya Toushiro?"_

_ "The prodigy. Is that his name? How do you even know that?" Renji said._

_ "Do you know him Momo?" Izuru asked._

_ "Of course I do. Why do you think I'm always talking to him?" Momo replied._

_ "I thought you were doing that tutoring program thing," Renji replied._

_ "But he's a prodigy. Why would he need to be tutored?" Izuru asked._

_ "I don't know. I didn't think Momo would talk to a kid like that otherwise."_

_ "A kid like what? What're you trying to say Renji?"_

_ "Nothing! He's just a little weird, isn't he? I mean, white hair?"_

_ "You're one to talk! You have red hair! And it's a-"_

_ "Don't say it," Renji begged._

_ "…girly red," Momo finished. _

_ "In weird spikes," Izuru added._

_ "Whose side are you on anyway?" Renji asked, glaring at his blond friend._

_ "I didn't know we were choosing sides," Izuru replied._

_ "Well, how well do you know him anyway?" Renji asked._

_ "Shiro chan? Very well. We've been friends since we were very little. He's a few years younger than me. I used to live with him. He's the whole reason I came here."_

_ "He is?" Renji asked. Renji said he became a Soul Reaper because all his friends except Rukia were dead. Izuru came because his parents were Soul Reapers and wanted him to be one as well. Hinamori said she wanted to protect someone._

_ "Yeah. He's the one I want to protect. He's my best friend and all I want to do is protect him from any danger that could ever come to him. I want to be there so he can rely on me and he never has to be scared."_

_ "That's great Momo," Izuru said._

_ Renji nodded. "I know you'll be able to do that Momo."_

_ "Thanks guys. I have to. I swore to myself that I'd always protect Shiro chan."_

End Flashback

"I promised Shiro-chan," Momo said. "I promised myself that I'd always protect you. That's why I went to Soul Reaper Academy. I didn't want to leave, but I knew it was best. I wanted to become a captain and protect everyone I could. I guess my hero worship got the best of me and I settled on working under Aizen for all those years." Momo laughed a little. "But not anymore.'

Toushiro was shocked. Hinamori became a Soul Reaper and a captain to protect him, just like he did it all to protect her? How could he not have known that?

Suddenly, they heard Kenpachi's crazy laughter. Momo pushed the cero back and launched three fireballs at the Hollow. All three were accompanied by three balls of sokatsui, but the Hollow only got hit by one fireball and it barely phased him. It was fast! Momo and Shiro turned around to see Kenpachi coming to their aid.

"Zaraki Taicho, you're not ready for battle yet!" Orihime cried. Zaraki didn't listen. He went charging at the Hollow with that familiar grin on his face. The Hollow hit him again and threw Zaraki back, but he didn't drop.

"Zaraki Taicho!" Momo cried worriedly.

"Daiguren Hyorinamru," Toushiro said and his zanpaktou attacked the Hollow. The Hollow shot a cero, breaking the ice dragon and hitting Toushiro.

"Ah! Shiro-chan! Momo yelled. Then she glared at the Hollow. "You can't hurt _my _Shiro-chan!" She threw fireballs at it. "Hado 4, Byakurai!" she screamed, firing about ten fireballs. "Hado 73, Soren Sukatsui!" Five of them were equipped with that kido instead of byakurai.

"Hado 31, shokkaho!" Toushiro yelled. That was the basic kidou, one that every soul reaper had to be able to perform, including all ranked officers of Squad 11, the kido hating squad.

"Rest Shiro-chan. Let me protect you," Momo said in a low voice.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, let me heal you," Orihime called as Uryu and Chad went back into battle. Of course they weren't healed nearly enough to fight again, but they didn't have much of a choice given the current situation.

Hitsugaya went down to Orihime. "I don't need your help. I'm fine," Hitsugaya said. "I just came down here to tell you that so you wouldn't worry."

"It's hard not to worry when you look like that," Uryu replied. Then he smirked at the captain. "Did I just hear Hinamori Taicho call you _her_ Shiro-chan?"

Toushiro blushed. He'd heard that but didn't know what that meant.

"Are you sure you don't want me to heal you?" Orihime asked worriedly.

"Positive," Hitsugaya answered.

"Take care out there Toushiro," Chad said.

"It's Hitsugaya Taicho," was all he said before he went back to join the struggling captains.

Hinamori looked awful. She was fighting hard and there sweat dripping down her face. She was breathing hard and her face was _too_ pale. After fighting for a little while, Toushiro was doing no better and Zaraki was only able to dodge, rather than getting in clean hits on the Hollow.

Hitsugaya was nearly down for the count. Hinamori too was barely hanging on. Uryu and Chad were both down again.

Orihime looked up at the three shinigami and the Hollow. "Unohana Taicho, I can take care of Madarame san and Ayasegawa san if you and Kotetsu fukataicho want to go help," she said softly. Ikkaku and Yumicika, who refused to give up, were in worse shape than Chad and Uryu, who were knocked out of battle twice. The two weren't even conscious yet.

"Maybe we should," Isane said to her captain. Orihime's healing powers were unique and unlike anything the Soul Society had ever seen before. Maybe she could do better with the Squad 11 members than she and her Taicho could.

"You have enough to do already," Unohana Taicho said, looking at Orihime, who was working on a passed out Chad and Uryu, who was beginning to stir.

Orihime knew she was right. Even though her offensive powers got stronger and her healing powers were plenty strong, she couldn't work on four people as effectively as she could two.

Yachiru looked up just in time to see Kenpachi knocked out of battle again.

"Ken-chan!" she cried.

"Zaraki Taicho!" Hinamori cried, rushing down after him. He was unconscious again. Orihime caught him and Hinamori knelt beside him as Hitsugaya continued fighting.

"That's what he gets for fighting before he was healed," Unohana Taicho said regretfully.

Seeing the captain, vice captain, and the human girl were all busy, Hinamori started to heal Kenpachi on her own.

For a few minutes, this went on, until Isane noticed Hinamori was about to pass out and took over, trying to attend to Zaraki Taicho and 5th seat Ayasegawa at the same time. She marveled at Hinamori. She was almost four times as strong now than she was as a fukataicho, even after Aizen had been defeated.

Hinamori, rather than using kido on herself for a while to at least recover a little, flew right up to Hitsugaya and began to assist him again.

"Hinamori, I can do this on my own, you need to rest," Hitsugaya yelled.

"You're one to talk Shiro-chan! Maybe you should go rest," Hinamori replied, letting him know she wasn't going anywhere.

"Hinamori Taicho is very dedicated to her position. Looks like becoming captain changed her. She was technically just supposed to watch at first, but she jumped right into the fight, before even Ikkaku san and Yumichika san," Isane noted.

"It's not her new position as Taicho, Isane," Unohana replied. "Believe it or not, this is Hinamori's first fight alongside Hitsugaya Taicho. That's what changed her."

Isane nodded in understanding. Well that made sense. The two _were_ in love with each other.

"That's really sweet," Orihime whispered. She was the same way with Ichigo, back when Kurosaki kun still had his powers. And _he_ was the same way with Kuchki san. What she didn't know was that Uryu was the same way with _her_. It wasn't easy to notice. Uryu seemed to be the last person to give up in Ichigo's group, including Ichigo, but his resolve was a lot stronger when he fought alongside Orihime.

"SHIRO CHAN!" was heard from the skies above.

All three healers on the ground and Yachiru looked up so see a large cero aimed right at Hitsugaya Taicho.

"Oh no!" Isane cried. He was too weak and tried to move out of the away. He wasn't going to be fast enough. Hinamori was the one who called out to him. And Isane saw that her captain was right about Hinamori Taicho.

Hinamori was a captain now, and stronger than every lieutenant (even, surprisingly enough, Abarai fukataicho, to his great disgruntlement) and even rivaled Kira Taicho and Hisagi Taicho in power, but there was no way she could be fast in this state either. However, Hinamori Taicho, in a horrible state, put herself right in front of Hitsugaya Taicho. She was so fast! All because of Hitsugaya.

"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime cried, placing a shield in front of Hinamori. However, she was consumed with fear, so she wasn't concentrating on the shield enough, causing it to break just as the cero began to lose power and thin out. The worst was over, but the cero hit Hinamori with what was left of its strength.

"HINAMORI!" Toushiro yelled, gripped with fear.

'Shiro chan,' Hinamori thought. 'It's okay Shiro chan! Don't worry about me. I'm going to die, right? But it's okay. I'm happy. I got to protect you. I know I didn't repay you…I didn't come close. But I did get to protect you. Thank you Shiro chan. I love you.'

She longed to say those words out loud, but she couldn't muster enough strength. She was glad she told Kira and Renji how she felt. They'd tell Shiro chan for her. She'd told them to.

Flashback:

_"Excited Momo?" Renji asked that afternoon. Hinamori was training for the mission later that day and Renji and Kira had come to visit her. They knew this was what she'd be doing. They also knew she was probably really nervous and they wanted to calm her down._

_ "Can you tell?" Hinamori jokingly asked sheepishly._

_ "Maybe, if you put that sword down," Renji teased._

_ "But I…Kira!" Hinamori protested as Kira gently took the katana out of her hands. "I haven't even practiced with shikai yet Izuru!"_

_ "You don't need to," Izuru assured her._

_ "Yeah. You're even better than me," Renji agreed, a note of jealously and anger in his voice. "And I'm the one who trained you." _

_He still couldn't understand how Kira and Hinamori, both of whom he'd trained so they could achieve bankai and give their squad a captain again, had managed to become stronger than him. Byakuya and Rukia told him it was because he had become extremely lazy with his training, and he knew deep down they were right, but refused to admit it on the surface._

"_Give it a rest Momo. Remember what we learned in the academy?" Kira asked. "Before a big mission, rest. So rest."_

"_And drink some sake!" came Rangiku's voice. She and Hisagi had found them._

"_I'm almost positive they never said that at the academy," Hisagi said._

"_Then you didn't pay enough attention," Rangiku, who was already drunk, pouted._

"_And here's where Hisagi would agree with his beloved," Renji said. Everyone laughed besides Hisagi, who blushed and Rangiku, who unsurprisingly, thought better when she was internally loaded on sake._

"_Beloved?" Rangiku questioned. "What does he mean Shuhei?"_

_Hisagi glared at the redhead. "Thanks a lot pineapple head."_

"_Tell her Shuhei," Momo cut in._

"_Tell me what?" Rangiku asked, smiling. She had a pretty good idea. So Hisagi took Rangiku outside of the 5__th__ squad indoor training space to tell her how he felt. When they came back in, they were a couple! But the important part was what happened while Hisagi was confessing with Hinamori's encouragement._

"_Guys, I'm really nervous," Momo admitted to her friends._

"_Really?" Renji snorted. "Couldn't tell." Noticing Momo looked really upset, he quickly added, "You'll be fine."_

"_I hope so, but if I'm not…I know we're strong enough to handle Karakura Town's Hollow problem, even if a couple of us don't make it back. Let's say I'm one and Shiro chan, um I mean, Hitsugaya kun, does. Then…"_

_Renji and Kira looked at each other knowingly._

"_Momo, that's not going to happen," Izuru said firmly._

"_But if it does…"_

"_We'll tell him," Izuru promised._

_Momo looked up at him surprise. How did he know?_

"_You're in love with him. With Hitsugaya Taicho. It's obvious," Renji said. "If you don't come back, which you will, we'll tell him. We promise."_

"_Thanks guys," Momo said, her voice thick. Renji blushed, and scratched the back of his neck as he did when he was embarrassed. Kira just smiled. They both wished they could come to protect Hinamori, but they couldn't go. They'd just have to trust Hitsugaya with that job once again._

End Flashback

"MOMO!" Hitsugaya called out again, using her first name this time.

'Don't Shiro chan. Don't be upset,' Momo thought before passing out.

"Santen Kisshun!" Orihime cried, trying to catch Hinamori. Her attempt failed, her shield disappearing. She was too weak since she spent so much energy healing her friends over and over again, healing them even now, as well as spend a lot of time fighting, which, though she got a lot stronger, she hadn't done a lot of until now.

Hitsugaya dove after her with speed Isane knew he shouldn't have in his condition, catching her. So Hitsugaya was the same way with Hinamori. He gently set her down near the healers, breathing heavily.

He looked toward the Hollow just as he saw a cero being aimed at him. He couldn't hold back a scream as he got hit before anyone could stop it. Luckily, the cero only hit his shoulder, but it was enough to take him out.

Orihime immediately ceased work on Kenpachi and Uryu, both of who had woken up, and Chad, who was beginning to stir, and started to work on the two captains, both of whom were near to death, the female more than the male.

"Please hold on," Isane silently begged as she helped Orihime with Hitsugaya after getting the go ahead form her captain, who resumed work on Yumichika along with Ikakku, both of whom were beginning to wake up.

Unohana had almost lost all hope. She knew her duty, as Captain of Squad 4, was, first and foremost, to attend to those in need, not to fight. She hoped there would be others who would regain their strength and be able to fight and win. How was this one Hollow so much stronger than even the Espada Zaraki Taicho had faced?

No one noticed the little pink haired girl who was shaking in anger. The _exceptionally_ fast vice captain who hated seeing her captain and unofficial adoptive father hurt. The little she devil (in a good way) who had now had enough.

However, they all did notice when the speed demon drew her zanpaktou and sped up to the Hollow.

"No, Yachiru! Don't-"

Before Orihime could even finish her plea, Yachiru delivered a blow to the Hollow's head that ended up destroying it.

Yachiru slowly descended and turned to face the gaping healers, humans, and fellow squad members. Her face broke into a huge smile. "Yay! I got it! Did you see that Ken-chan?" She started to jump up and down excitedly, happy that she killed the enemy that took down her captain twice. No one messed with Kenny and got away with it.

Kenpachi wore a small grin. "That's the way Yachiru," he said.

"Captain, did…" Yumichika couldn't finish. "Ikkaku, you saw that, didn't you?"

"Yeah. But whoever said seeing is believing better rewrite the saying cuz I don't believe it."

"She didn't even break a sweat. She's not tired or in need to any medical attention whatsoever," Isane said to herself softly, almost wavering in her efforts to heal Hitsugaya Taicho before Unohana Taicho, who was just as shocked as she was, touched her arm to remind her of her duty.

"A little pink haired girl who never fights taking out a huge hollow?" Chad questioned.

"Who knew," was Uryu's reply.

Only Orihime remained unsurprised. She smiled as she worked on Hinamori. "I knew you were strong Yachiru. Good job," she said to herself.

BLEACH BLEACH BLEACH

Two weeks had passed since the Hollow incident in Karakura Town. Karakura Town was back to normal, for the most part. Only one of the humans were needed to take care of the Hollows invading the town again, as it was before. Uryu was still doomed to loving Orihime without the orange haired girl having the slightest clue how he felt.

Rangiku and Shuhei were now a couple, much to everyone's surprise. Who knew the usually serious captain would have the nerve to confess?

Hinamori and Hitsugaya were back to full health. He went to go see her.

"Hey Hinamori," he said, entering her office.

"Shiro chan!" she cried happily.

They chatted idly for a little while. Then Hinamori said, "Shiro chan, it seems every time I fight ever since Aizen betrayed us, I keep realizing how easily death can come. So I have to tell you…I love you Shiro chan!" She blushed violently and covered her mouth shyly.

Toushiro stared back at her, shocked. He'd been in love with Hinamori since they met, though his feelings hadn't become obvious to those around him until he joined the Gotei 13, but he never imagined Momo felt the same way. Then a small smile formed on his face.

"Don't be so shy and embarrassed Bed Wetter," he said, fake annoyance in his tone. "I love you too."

Momo looked up at him, surprised. All her friends told her Hitsugaya loved her, but she never believed it. She didn't even realize her feelings until recently.

"Shiro, really? Oh, I'm so happy! I mean, Renji and Izuru and Rangiku always said-mmmff, oh!"

Momo was cut off when Toushiro put his lips on hers, but easily melted into the kiss. They broke apart huge smiles on their faces.

"Wow Shiro chan, you're smiling," Momo teased.

"Guess you bring it out in me Bed Wetter," Toushiro teased back. "Now, there's something I have to say. Thank you Momo, for protecting me."

"No! Thank _you _Toushiro, for protecting _me_! For saving me! Thank you for always coming through for me, to my rescue, even though you have to do it all the time. Thank you for being my knight in shining armor. Thank you Shiro chan, for being my savior, my…protector."

Toushiro smiled. "You welcome Momo. I'll always be your protector. And thank you, for being the protector of your protector."

He leaned in for another kiss, and Momo was only too happy to oblige.

**A/N: Yay, je finis! ****I'm not too good at HitsuHina fluff, so sorry if you were expecting more fluff **

**I had to make Yachiru the hero. I know she probably has no actual fighting skills, besides that she's really fast, but there's a first time for everything, right? Comment on what you thought of that.**

**Favor time! Please review, and when you do, I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me if you ultimately liked it or not, what parts you liked, how my writing was, and then anything else you want to mention.**

**My next story ideas: 100 themes: I'm going to post a list of 100 themes and then write a oneshot for each of the themes for different Bleach pairings. I know this isn't usually how people do the 100 themes challenge, but this is how I will do it. I will update this whenever inspiration strikes.**

**Melting Secrets: A multi chapter HitsuHina fic with hints of other pairings with lots of mystery and suspense. I've started it and I'm excited to post.**

**Christmas story: A story in which my favorite Bleach characters, plus an OC I added come to Ichigo's house to celebrate Christmas. Except, when Shinigami try to celebrate a human holiday, the only thing that can come out of that is humor and disaster. This'll have multiple pairing and only one chapter, so it'll probably be the one I post next.**


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